The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 436: Chapter 436 Demon Slaying Sword Spirit_1

At this moment, the war between the cultivation world of the Red Flame Country and the Outer Zone Heavenly Demons continued.

By communicating with his fellow sect members through Sound Transmission Talismans, and aided by the Demon Soul Generals branded with Soul Splitting Runes, Shen Mo had maintained a fairly detailed grasp of the situation on the Sea State battlefield.

The bloody battle between the two sides had begun, focusing on key strongholds such as cities, the Immortal Sects in the Sea State, major fortified defenses, and the sealed passageways of the Heavenly Demons, plunging them into continuous slaughter and conflict. Compared to before, the Outer Zone Heavenly Demons had actually fallen into a state of decline.

On one hand, numerous strongholds were equipped with Teleportation Arrays, allowing a steady stream of cultivators and resources to be transferred in from other major states. Cultivators who were severely injured or in poor condition could also use these Teleportation Arrays to leave the Sea State and recuperate elsewhere.

On the other hand, just as cultivators entering the Immortal Burial Sea experienced some impact on their strength, the Demon-corrupted Marine Race members also found their strength somewhat diminished when they came ashore. It just so happened that among the Heavenly Demons, a large number of the more powerful Class II and Class III Heavenly Demons were Demon-corrupted Marine Race. Class I Native Heaven Demons were numerous but not particularly strong. In contrast, Class III Demon-corrupted cultivators, whose strength remained unaffected, were fewer in number.

As one side weakened and the other strengthened, the cultivators’ side held the advantages of favorable timing and terrain. They had trapped tens of millions of Heavenly Demons within the Sea State, making it difficult for them to invade other major states.

They could still attempt to aggressively invade other states. However, defensive fortresses ahead and various strongholds behind would sever their connection to the demonic caves. Such actions would accomplish nothing more than adding to the cultivators’ merit of slaying demons.

Heavenly Demons of Class III or lower only knew how to demonize living creatures and devour blood and flesh to strengthen themselves. However, high-rank Heavenly Demons of Class III or higher possessed intellects comparable to wise humans, understanding gains and losses, pros and cons, making them far more difficult to deal with than low-class Heavenly Demons.

During his stay with the Black Fish Gang, Shen Mo had acted several times, once again slaying two peak Class III Heavenly Demons, over ten Class III Heavenly Demons, and more than ten thousand Heavenly Demons below Class III.

The merit of slaying demons he had accumulated was now enough to empty the Demon Slaying Hall’s Treasure Halls in several cities. This would allow him to obtain a batch of precious high-class spiritual materials for Alchemy and talisman making, as well as to further improve the quality of his seven Big Dipper Dao Swords.

Currently, each Dao Sword had reached the top-grade Profound-level. Thus, it was not possible to elevate them to the rank of Spiritual Artifacts all at once. However, infusing more extreme elements could improve their quality and greatly increase the chances of awakening their spiritual nature.

At the same time, the Demon Slaying Sword seemed to have reached an upgrade threshold. For the past couple of days, it had been humming unceasingly, resonating with Shen Mo’s aura, its entire body suffused with Carefree Sword Intent.

CLANG!

One day, Shen Mo was sitting on a cliff on Fish Head Ridge, gazing at the fiery sun in the sky while cultivating the Divine Soul Contemplation Scripture.

The Demon Slaying Sword, lying across his lap, spontaneously erupted with a brilliant Sword Light, shattering a distant cloud formation hanging on the horizon, all without him infusing any Mana.

Has it upgraded?

Joy flashed across Shen Mo’s face. He immediately stopped his cultivation and grabbed the Demon Slaying Sword.

Since obtaining this sword, he had always kept it with him, nurturing it with his own immortal charm and honing it with Carefree Sword Intent. Although he hadn’t forged the sword himself, when it was upgraded to the top-grade Profound-level, it had also been completely reforged and refined once, making it no different from a sword he had crafted from scratch.

Subsequently, it had undergone the comprehension of Tianshan Sword Qi, been nurtured by numerous instances of Godlike Swordplay, polished by a vast amount of sword Qi within the Sword Tomb of the Taiyi Sword Alliance, and fed by the lives of tens, even hundreds of thousands, of Heavenly Demons.

The depth of its spirituality had reached a level that even the Ruyi Soul Stealing Needle could scarcely attain.

It was about time for the sword to birth its own spirit!

Immediately, Shen Mo immersed his divine sense into the Demon Slaying Sword. There, in a peculiar realm between the tangible and intangible, he perceived the presence of a living creature.

The spirit within a magic artifact is formless and ethereal. Born from an inanimate object, such a spirit is exceptionally mystical. It could be regarded as an artifact gaining sentience, or as a strand of soul.

The moment his divine sense touched the Sword Spirit within, the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit began to cheer, ”Daddy! Daddy~~~~~”

Accompanying this, the sword’s body also trembled joyfully, expressing clear affection.

”Cough, cough!”

Shen Mo nearly choked.

From the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit’s perspective, Shen Mo had nurtured it into being with his own immortal charm, Sword Intent, comprehension, and so on, naturally making him its birth father.

However, for Shen Mo, who was not yet Dao companions with Zhao Lingyin and had no children, it was quite bizarre to suddenly have a ”child”!

Nevertheless, for cultivators, many ”impossible” things could ”possibly” happen. After the initial astonishment, Shen Mo accepted the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit’s address with perfect composure.

After interacting with it, Shen Mo found that although the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit was as naive and uncomprehending as a newborn babe, it possessed vast knowledge concerning the Sword Path. For example, regarding swordplays like the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique and the All-Encompassing Sword Canon, it was exceedingly proficient in their sword moves, forms, and execution methods.

A moment’s reflection revealed that the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit’s proficiency in these areas stemmed from his own comprehensions—this was equivalent to it having inherited Shen Mo’s Sword Path legacy!

Moreover, the Demon Slaying Sword itself was his destined magic artifact. Whenever Shen Mo gained new comprehensions of the Sword Path, the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit could immediately learn and master them.

The Demon Slaying Sword’s promotion to a Spirit Sword would not only greatly increase its might in combat, but also introduce many new ways of using it...

For instance, he could dispatch the Demon Slaying Sword to take an enemy’s head from hundreds of li away.

Or he could lend it to someone close to him, allowing them to supply Mana to unleash the Demon Slaying Sword’s destructive power.

Or he could command a Demon Soul General, branded with a Soul Splitting Rune, to carry the Demon Slaying Sword three to four thousand li away from him and unleash All-Encompassing Sword Qi, and so on!

Previously, when the Demon Slaying Sword was still a Profound-rank magic artifact, these feats had been impossible. Once it left Shen Mo’s hand, it had been very difficult to execute sword techniques and forms or unleash correspondingly sharp sword Qi.

But now, it was as if a miniature ”Shen Mo” was hidden within the Demon Slaying Sword. As long as there was a continuous external supply of Mana, it could autonomously execute sword techniques of astonishing proficiency.

Thinking of these uses, Shen Mo felt an itch he couldn’t scratch and immediately dispatched the Demon Slaying Sword, flying out from Fish Head Ridge.

Around the Black Fish Gang’s mountain gate stronghold, traces of Heavenly Demons were visible everywhere.

Shen Mo’s divine sense spread out, and his mind also continuously received various feedback from the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit. After a period of observation, he quickly targeted a late-stage Class III Heavenly Demon.

”Universal Demon Slaying!”

After these days of cultivation and refinement, Shen Mo had successfully advanced to the fourth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm two days prior. On that day, every Spirit Sea Realm expert at the Fish Head Ridge stronghold, whether from the Five Great Sects, minor immortal sects, or unaffiliated rogue cultivators, every single one of them had come to offer their congratulations.

At the same time, his self-created Demon Slaying Sword Style had also been perfectly refined, allowing him to execute it freely and with full control. Now that the Demon Slaying Sword Spirit had just been born, it was natural that he wanted to perform this sword style, which was intimately connected to it.

”Slay Demons! Slay Demons!”

The Demon Slaying Sword Spirit cheered as Mana and True Yuan from Shen Mo’s body were continuously poured into the sword’s body through their profound, unseen connection.

The next moment, an incomparably brilliant and astonishingly powerful Sword Light erupted from the sword.

BOOM!

A bewildered late-stage Class III Demon-corrupted Marine Race creature had just looked up when it was engulfed by the Demon Slaying Sword Light.

The next instant, the demon’s massive demonic body was sliced in two, its soul utterly extinguished.